Why an Intensely Committed Hillary Supporter Will Vote for Obama
Don't
get me wrong. I'm still in mourning for Hillary. I still wear my pink Hillary
T shirt and we still have our signs up. "Hillary" decal in the car
window, one on the living room window, and a large Hillary yard sign on the
lawn next to the Obama sign. I will never get over what I perceived as misogyny
on the part of the DNC and the media. But I will vote for Barack Obama.
Why? There
are many reasons. First, and I think foremost, is that I believe that we should
vote issues. Yes, I had an issue that I wanted desperately to see a woman in
the White House. I make buttons with my art on them and created and sold more
than 600 Hillary ones, including one where I digitally painted the White House
pink. I was passionately invested in this particular woman's campaign. I specifically
wanted to see her win- I find her to be sincere, caring and yet very tough.
She's tough because she believes in her principles.
So-if I'm voting issues, how could I not vote for Barack? In principles and
issues, they were so very close. The gains that this country needs to make are
best served by having a Democrat in the White House and Obama is that Democrat.
I'm not sure that he's capable of doing all that he wants to do. Bush has left
our country in the worst shape since the Great Depression. However, I'm sure
that no one else is capable of fixing it either. Especially not the Republicans.
Especially not McCain who has lost his maverickness and has such a low opinion
of Americans that he thought that we would be fooled by a bait and switch.
"Can't
have Hillary? Here's Sarah!" Is there anyone who will buy that? I sincerely
hope not. John, it's not the hardware that we were inspired by, it was the software.
It was the issues not the person's looks, personality, family background, or
even history. If history mattered, McCain would look better. He's changed and
it's not pretty politically.
As far as Sarah Palin, she's a good speaker, or should I say, reader. But I
don't need to go into her drawbacks; they're all over the internet. Do a search
on Anne Kilkenny from Wasilla, Alaska and read the letter she wrote because
as she says, "I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me
out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool;
she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow
in the future: that's life…. [Also] I've always operated in the belief
that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent."
I really think that the media will soon tire of the self-defined red-neck hockey
mom. I'm not too worried about her; she was a big fish in her pond, but how
will she swim in the briny ocean?. So, given that I will not buy into "any
woman will do," is that enough to sway me toward Obama? Yes, because I
believe in his sincerity and ideals, and the possibility of another Republican
in the White House is too dire to consider.
If the Supreme Court leans any more right, we will all fall off the end of the
Earth. We are in danger of losing Roe versus Wade. The economy will go from
the toilet to the sewer. Our Civil Rights could start failing like the kidneys
of those blue collar workers in high risk jobs, like the endangered species
who are expected to donate their lives so that we may live and ride in air-conditioning,
like the North Pole, like Women's Rights. I suspect we are going to have to
give up a lot of comforts in the coming years so that the Earth can survive,
but our basic rights as citizens should not be among those sacrifices. Republicans
thrive on these class differences. Enough!
To wrap up, expressing your disappointment at Hillary's loss by voting for McCain
would like getting a bunion and deciding that the remedy is to shoot your foot
off. Please, vote for your choice, but Vote The Issues!
Rhoda Auerbach